For Immediate Release: June 28, 2007
DBEDT Release News 07-14

Year-to-Date Visitor Expenditures Up 1.6 Percent

Note: May 2007 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU--Total visitor expenditures for May 2007 increased 3.1 percent from last May to $914.5 million, boosted by growth in total visitor arrivals and slightly higher daily visitor spending, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

Visitors who came during the month spent an average of $179 per person per day, compared to $178 per person in May 2006. For the first five months of 2007, total visitor expenditures rose 1.6 percent from the same period last year, to $4.8 billion. Average daily spending grew 2.8 percent to $177 per person.

Total visitor days for May 2007 increased 2.7 percent as total arrivals rose 1.6 to 586,338 visitors, setting a new record for the month of May. The average length of stay was slightly longer at 8.71 days.

Among the top four visitor markets, visitors from the U.S. West (+3.5%), U.S. East (+6.8%) and Canada (+8.4%) rose in May 2007 but arrivals from Japan (-10.3%) declined compared to the same month last year.

"May's success can be attributed, for the most part, to the strong performance of Hawaii‘i's cruise industry which benefited all of the islands," said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. "We continue to be optimistic about the visitor industry this year, especially the domestic market."

For the first five months of 2007, total visitor days decreased 1.2 percent compared to year-to-date 2006 while total arrivals dipped .5 percent.

Of the total number of visitors who came in May 2007, 40,076 visitors either flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawaii‘i, tripling the numbers of cruise visitors from last May. Cruise visitor days for the month rose 173.6 percent.

Year-to-date 2007 preliminary visitor statistics:

• Total visitor expenditures: Visitors spent a total of $4.8 billion in the first five months of 2007, 1.6 percent higher than the same period last year. Growth in total spending by the U.S. West and Canadian markets offset decreases from U.S. East and Japanese visitors.

  Visitor spending on O‘ahu totaled $2.1 billion (-.4%), followed by Maui at $1.4 billion (-1.9%), the Big Island at $682.1 million (+9.4%) and Kaua‘i at $515.3 million (+7%).

• Total air visitors: Total visitor days decreased 1.2 percent while total arrivals dipped .5 percent. The average length of stay by all visitors was 9.14 days.

  Visitor arrivals were higher on Kaua‘i (+13.1%), Lana‘i (+12.1%), the Big Island (+5.3%) and Maui (+1.7%) compared to the same period last year.

  A greater number of visitors came to vacation (+2.1%) and to visit with friends or relatives (+2.3%).

  Repeat visitors comprised 64.5 percent of the total visitors to Hawaii‘i, versus 63.4 percent in year-to-date 2006.

• Air visitors from the top four major market areas (MMAs):

  U.S. West: Year-to-date, total spending by U.S. West visitors rose 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year to $1.8 billion, the highest among the top four visitor markets.

  U.S. West visitors in the first five months of 2007 spent an average of $155 per person per day, a growth of 2.3 percent from the same period last year.

  U.S. West visitor days increased 4.8 percent due to a 6 percent growth in arrivals to 1,242,710 visitors. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.29 days, compared to 9.39 days in the same period last year. Arrivals from the Pacific region and the Mountain region rose by 6.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.

  U.S. East: Total spending by U.S. East visitors year-to-date was slightly off (-.2%) from the same period last year at $1.5 billion, second highest among the four major visitor markets. Average daily spending by U.S. East visitors also ranked second at $181 per person.

  U.S. East visitor days decreased 2.9 percent from year-to-date 2006, due to a 2.9 percent drop in visitor arrivals. The average length of stay was unchanged from the same period last year at 10.32 days. Arrivals declined for the East South Central (-3.8%), New England (-1.8%), East North Central (-7%), South Atlantic (-4.2%) and West North Central (-3%) regions but increased for the West South Central (+1.1%) and Mid Atlantic (+1.2%) regions.

Japan: Japanese visitors spent a total of $776.4 million, 7.9 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $272 per person, an increase of 1.1 percent.

Japanese visitor days were 8.9 percent lower compared to the first five months of 2006, due to an 8.2 percent decrease in visitor arrivals to 514,215 visitors. The average length of stay was stable at 5.55 days.

Canada: Total expenditures by Canadian visitors increased 3.4 percent to $274.4 million for the first five months of 2007.

Despite a 1.6 percent growth in arrivals to 145,377 visitors, Canadian visitor days dropped 5.7 percent due to a shorter length of stay (12.93 days compared to 13.92 days for year-to-date 2006).

• Per person per trip expenditures by MMA:

  Canadian visitors spent the most per trip ($1,888 per person) in the first five months of 2007, followed by visitors from the U.S. East ($1,865 per person), Japan ($1,510 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,442 per person).

Year-to-date 2007 Preliminary Cruise Visitor Statistics:

Total cruise visitor days climbed 44 percent for the first five months of 2007. Contributing to this increase was a 43.5 percent growth in cruise visitors to 219,710 visitors. These passengers include those who flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawaii‘i. Of the ships in Hawaii‘i year-to-date, there were 35 cruise ship arrivals, compared to 30 in the same period last year. Cruise ship arrival is the number of times cruise ships enter the State of Hawaii‘i. A cruise ship may be counted multiple times if it leaves Hawaii‘i then returns with new passengers within the same month.

Repeat visitors to Hawaii‘i accounted for 59 percent of out-of-state cruise visitors, compared to 57.8 percent in year-to-date 2006. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 9.69 days in Hawaii‘i, of which 6.15 days were spent on their cruise.

Technical Notes: 2006 air visitor data presented in this news release are the preliminary numbers and are subject to change. Detailed final statistics will be published in the 2006 Annual Visitor Research Report, available by mid-year 2007. Starting in July 2007, visitor research data news releases will follow a new abbreviated format.

For more information, contact:
Marsha Wienert, Tourism Liaison
Phone: (808) 586-2362
Email: marsha.wienert@hawaii.gov

Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov